Two weekends in jail for shooting dogs

HOOSICK -- A former town animal control officer who shot and killed loose dogs will spend two weekends in jail and 10 days of home confinement with an electronic monitoring device.

Matthew Beck, 46, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, petty larceny and animal cruelty in Town Court Thursday.

Beck was charged with multiple counts last spring following reports that he was shooting the loose and stray dogs he collected rather than taking them to the local shelter. One resident reported seeing the animal control officer collect two loose dogs that never found their way back to their owner, April Stevens. Stevens had been posting fliers for her missing dogs, but they were never found.

State police searched Beck's Eagle Bridge property in May and found the remains of several dogs in a pile of manure, including two skulls with bullet holes. Those remains were determined to belong to another resident's pets, according to Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally Jr.

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McNally said he suspects Stevens' dogs are likely buried somewhere on Beck's property.

Beck pleaded guilty in connection with Stevens' dogs' disappearance. He also admitted to filing false documentation and violating state Environment Conservation law by running a disposal site without a permit for burying dogs in his barnyard.

Under the plea deal, he'll also get three years of probation in addition to jail time and home confinement.

"The case was prosecuted aggressively by the district attorney," said Beck's attorney, David Gruenberg. "I think it's a decent resolution."